1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to a mobile device and an apparatus and method for transmitting contents to the mobile device, and more particularly, to a mobile device and an apparatus and method for transmitting contents to the mobile device, in which requested contents are filtered in advance to allow transmission of only the selected contents, thereby reducing the quantity of data transmitted and the access fee for the contents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, the widespread use of mobile devices capable of accessing the wireless Internet, such as mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), etc., a user can visit any Internet sites and easily access information regardless of time and space. Further, the use of wireless Internet for mobile devices is also increasing, as wireless Internet interfaced with the conventional Internet Protocol (IP) network as an access means allows a simple access through mobile communication networks using schemes such as CDMA, GSM, GPRS, CDPD, TDMA, and W-CDMA, etc.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional wireless Internet system.
As shown, a typical wireless Internet system 10 includes mobile devices 11a, 11b, and 11c, a gateway 12, and servers 13a, 13b, and 13c. The mobile devices 11a, 11b, and 11c equipped with a predetermined browser connect through a wireless relay network 14 (which includes a Base Transceiver System (BTS) and a Base Station Controller (BSC), etc.) to the gateway 12 provided by a wireless service provider.
The gateway 12 is connected through an IP network 15 to the servers 13a, 13b, and 13c and performs protocol conversion, etc., in order to enable the mobile devices 11a, 11b, and 11c to access the servers 13a, 13b, and 13c which provide the contents.
Further, the servers 13a, 13b, and 13c provide the contents requested by the mobile devices 11a, 11b, and 11c, and the gateway 12 converts or provides the contents provided by the servers 13a, 13b, and 13c to the mobile devices 11a, 11b, and 11c through the protocol conversion, etc.
The main protocols used between the mobile devices 11a, 11b, and 111c and the gateway 12 include Wireless Application Protocol 1.0 (WAP1.0), WAP2.0, and Mobile Explore (ME). Further, Markup languages supporting the contents may be different according to each protocol, and the gateway 12 may be equipped with a separate conversion module in order to convert a Markup language that is not supported by a predetermined protocol.
The main markup languages used for current mobile contents include Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), J-Sky Hyper-Text Markup Language (JHTML), Voice eXtensible Markup Language (VoiceXML), Wireless Markup Language (WML), extensible Hyper-Text Markup Language (XHTML), compact Hyper-Text Markup Language (cHTML), and inline Hyper-Text Markup Language (iHTML). HDML is a specific language of an Openware using an Openware browser and uses a Handheld Device Transport Protocol (HDTP) of an Openware. JHTML is a specific language of Vodafone for a Japanese J-Sky device. VoiceXML is a standard for making an audio dialogue in a dialogue-type voice response application program. WML is based on the extensible Markup Language (XML) and is a part of the WAP. XHTML is another formal name of HTML4.0 by which anybody can add a new element and can define a new property in order to expand its function. cHTML is a simplified version of HTML for mobile devices. iHTML is a Markup language provided in the Japanese i-mode service of NTT DOCoMo, and is similar to cHTML but provides specific expansion.
Further, the gateway 12 receives a WAP from the mobile device 11a, 11b, or 11c, converts the WAP to a Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and then transmits the HTTP to the server 13a, 13b, or 13c. The gateway 12 processes session information and the contents transmitted from the server 13a, 13b, or 13c to become proper for the mobile devices and provides the processed information to the mobile devices.
FIG. 2 illustrates a screen displayed when a user connects to an Internet site through a typical mobile device.
As shown, each Internet site for mobile devices produces and provides separate contents in consideration of the characteristics of the display unit of the mobile device and employs an access scheme according to category in order to facilitate access of the user to the contents. The WAP2.0 standard on which attention has been recently concentrated basically supports XHTML. Therefore, the mobile device using the WAP2.0 standard can provide various services that are provided by typical Internet sites.
When the user accesses an Internet service through a mobile device 11a, 11b, or 11c in this way, the access fee for the user of the Internet service is determined based on the number of packets transmitted between the mobile device 11a, 11b, or 11c and the gateway (or base station) 12. Therefore, the access fee may actually be too high for a user who actively uses the wireless Internet through the mobile device 11a, 11b, or 11c. Also, even though various discount rate systems, such as limitless use rate system, discount system, fixed rate system, etc., have been introduced, it is not easy for ordinary users to willingly select one of such systems. Further, while users use a wireless Internet, it is usual that the content provider one-sidedly provides contents. Therefore, the user may be charged for transmission of contents that the user does not want.
For example, in the case of content which uses HTML, has a size of 31 KB, is a CSS file, and uses an HTTP/WAP2.0 protocol, the amount as shown in Table 1 below may be charged by communication companies in the Republic of Korea, although the amount may be changed according to the kind of provided content.
TABLE 1Communication companyFeeS company6.5/0.5 KB * 31 Kb = 403K company6.5/0.5 KB * 31 Kb = 403L company6.5/0.5 KB * 31 Kb = 403
Table 1 shows an example of the access fees for contents provided by a news site. Even when the user is interested in only news of one particular field, such as sports news or IT-related news, unnecessary contents may be transmitted to the user together with the news which the user wants. Then, the user may be charged for the additional contents which the user does not want. Further, when the Internet site for mobile devices includes a plurality of images, the user may be charged an excessive amount.
As described above, transmission of contents which the user does not want may increase the access fee to the user and may cause a speed reduction in the mobile environment, which has a limited transmission quantity.
Therefore, there has been a request for a solution by which, when a user accesses the wireless Internet through the mobile devices 11a, 11b, and 11c, the user can prevents in advance transmission of contents which the user does not want, thereby reducing the access fee and controlling the provided contents.
Korean Laid-Open Patent No. 2002-007433 discloses a method for providing information to a wireless terminal, in which a server provides a menu from an information-providing system. A user can select desired contents from the menu after the menu is stored in the terminal and can request and receive the selected contents through the wireless Internet. According to the disclosed method, the user must request the desired contents by referring to the menu stored in the terminal each time. However, there has not been proposed a method in which the user intercepts the contents which the user does not want, and the contents intercepted by the user are filtered thereafter to preliminarily prevent the contents from being provided.